Do you have all of your important information in one place? Or do you have scraps of notes here and there and everywhere? This little book is perfect for gathering all of your important information — and as seniors, we know we must keep track of all of our personal and medical information. This spiral bound booklet allows you to enter the most fundamental information about your personal history, your present life and your plans for your future life and death, which should be recorded in one location for reference by your children or caregivers. I am ordering mine right now! Join me?

Personal Life Organizer

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The new iPhone Accessibility features make the iPhone extremely friendly for people with low vision. You can zoom, voice over, or even change from black on white text to white on black. With the voice over turned on, a simple touch of a button will tell you exactly what that button will do. The best way to explain it is to show you the video. I think this may be the best new application for legally blind users.

To read more about the iPhone, simply click below, but watch the video first! You will be amazed at all the different ways this phone can be suited to your specific needs.

Apple iPod touch 32 GB (3rd Generation) NEWEST MODEL

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Always have fun!

Sure, we can grow old if we like. But it does not sound like much fun, does it? Those of us with grandchildren know already– the purpose of grandchildren is to keep us young!!

Last week I was shooting basketball with my grandson. I am not very good at it, but I sure tried! And he laughed and laughed. He and his legally blind Poppy shoot basketball competitively, and they do have fun at that! Zach coaches his Poppy — “that one was a little bit to the left, Poppy” or “you missed that one Poppy!” At six years old, he is a great coach!

And it is much better for us seniors to be out there trying to play basketball than sitting in a chair doing nothing — whether we are good at basketball or not.

I learned a new lesson from our granddaughter today – we went to the grocery store. She carefully wrote out our grocery list and off we went. But we somehow arrived at the store without our list. Jessica said, “Don’t worry, JoanJoan, I remember them all!” And she did! We quickly bought groceries with the help of her young memory. Yippee! From now on, she is going to the store with me so I don’t forget anything, even when I forget the list!

We do need to take advantage of the joy and energy and talents of our grands, no doubt! And I firmly believe all our lives will be richer for the experience — and more fun too!

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My dear friend, Holley, wrote recently on her blog that she is worried about her parents, particularly her father’s upcoming surgery. And when I read her post, my heart grieved with her. I so well remember that dread, that fear, that “what happens to me without my parents?” And whether you admit it or not, no matter how old you are, you still feel that way until they are gone.

I wondered if our children worry about us. We have a son and daughter. Both are happily married and all four of our “kids” do take care of us. I smiled to myself when we came home from dancing last week and Kathy and Adam walked us into the house when they brought us home. It’s really really wonderful to feel loved!

But…what would I tell them if they were concerned about our deaths?

I would first quote my own father, who constantly reminded us that death is a natural part of life and that life is for the living. He also used to say “I just want to live until I die.” In those days, I thought that was a funny thing to say, but from this perspective, I understand just what he meant. I want to live as long as I can live — really live and enjoy my life!

Our mother had Alzheimer’s Disease from the age of 57. It was an 11 year nightmare watching this happy, loving wife and mother disappear before our eyes. Already I have been able to be with my children longer than mama was with us — in a real way anyway. I feel blessed with those extra years — like I got a bonus!

When I die, I hope my children will be glad I was around as long as I was — however long that turns out to be — and that they will enjoy happy memories of fun times together.

We are preparing for our family reunion (on my father’s side of the family). Part of this preparation is writing our memories of those original brothers and sisters we call Minnie’s Kids – my dad was one of those! I am compiling the memories as folks email them to me. This week we are focusing on the house on Shaw Street where our Aunts Ruby and Lillie lived. Over and over again, I have read — “they made me feel special.” and “I always felt loved in that house.”

You must realize that we are seniors (the age of your parents, Holley) writing our memories of a generation that is past — and yet, when we pause to reflect, we remember feeling loved and special as little children.

And so, Holley, that is the lesson of all of this circle of life talk. We live, we love, we die. And the piece of us that lives on and on in the hearts of those we love is that very love we have poured into them so gently, so carefully, for all of our lives.

I hope and pray that someday in the future my grandchildren will write happy memories of the love they found in our home. Is there anything that matters any more than that? I think not.

So, as my sister Betty would say, Enjoy the moments! Every moment of every day. Fill your time with your parents with happy loving conversations and laughter and enjoy them as long as you have them with you. And when the time comes that they are gone from this earth plane, replay those memories and bathe yourself in that precious love any time you want to! That is exactly what they would want you to do!

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We had a wonderful time last evening. We went dancing with the Rock Hill Shag Club. In fact, we applied for membership. Regular dancing is not only great exercise for seniors, but good socialization, too!

Our daughter and son-in-law went with us last night, and they had a great time too! Since the Carolina Shag is the State dance for South Carolina, all ages enjoy it. We have decided that a monthly shag night is a great adult family event, so next time we are hoping our son and daughter-in-law will join us too!

It was fun last night to watch some of the older beach shaggers – the folks who danced at Ocean Drive back in the 1950’s. And oh those folks can really dance! I remember in the 1950’s, Mama would have us dance before school — probably to help us stay warm — we walked to school in those days!

In the 1950’s, we danced everywhere – in friend’s homes, in the high school gym, even in the church social hall! We seemed to dance our way through the 1960’s too!

Note to Seniors — I have finally learned that if I take two Tylenol at bedtime, and coat my feet and legs with Absorbine or some other linament after dancing, I do not have leg and foot cramps in the night! Now I can have fun knowing I won’t struggle for sleep!

Just in case you have never seen the Carolina Shag, I am including a video!
Carolina Shag Dance

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Is it possible for the old folks to be romantic? You’d better believe it!
We had snow in South Carolina yesterday. Beautiful, white fluffy snow! About 5″ of it! Really unusual for the south, and we enjoyed it!

But the bestest part was when hubby called me to look out the window — he had written in the snow with a golf club.

“Be My Valentine” and “I love you.”

Now, after almost 50 years of marriage, that was the best Valentine I have ever received!

I hope you had a romantic Valentine’s Day,too!

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Guide Dogs for the Blind is a school for dogs and people. This is the second program I am reviewing as my husband and I consider a guide dog for him in the future. We do have a golden retriever, our second golden since Whitey lost his vision, but she is aging fast, and we may be ready for another dog. If we do get a third golden, it might be wise to get a dog who is trained to help the legally blind this time. Our goldens have been wonderful companions, but certainly with more intense training, they would have been even more helpful.

Guide Dogs for the Blind has no cost charged to the new owner. The dog, training, air travel, and room and board are all included. This school is located on the west coast, and since Whitey would be in school for 3 weeks, the distance might be prohibitive, but I am impressed with their website and their facility.

It was interesting too to learn that over 10,000 people across the United States use a guide dog. They do make the point that a guide dog is not a well trained pet, but a working animal. That makes sense to me. The dogs go through thousands of hours of training.

This is also where I learned that there are actually 12 schools accredited by the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools in the United States and still more in other countries. The difference in the schools appears to be in philosophy and training methods, as well as support after the training is complete.

As I look at the different schools, I am looking at cost, location, follow up help, and the general attitude toward the dogs and the people. It is amazing how much you can discover by reading a website — looking for those friendly, loving and caring phrases. I know that none of the web reviews will be the same as a true visit, but I am learning with these reviews,and perhaps we will make a more knowledgeable decision. I pray so.

You can donate to Guide Dogs for the Blind and donations are tax deductible. As with other programs I have reviewed, the Guide Dogs for the Blind program does not receive government aid.

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Every dog who helps a blind owner is not necessarily a Seeing Eye dog. The Seeing Eye is a registered trademark for the now famous dog program started in 1929.

Dogs trained in other programs are called guide dogs. Guide Dogs for the Blind is another well known school for dogs and people.

The Seeing Eye program breeds its own dogs – German Shepherds, Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. When they are 8 weeks old, the dogs are placed in the homes of trained volunteers who provide basic training, socialization and lots and lots of love and attention. The dog then goes through another four month course at The Seeing Eye before it is placed with a blind owner.

The dog and the new owner go through 27 days of training together. You can easily see that this is an involved process, and is not as simple as most people think. The Seeing Eye program is not a government program, but is funded by private donations. The cost to the blind person is only $150 which covers the dog, the training, air fare and room and board for the training session. This fee has remained the same since 1934. The $150 can even be broken down into payments, if necessary. You can donate to the Seeing Eye Program online.

Tomorrow I will tell you a little about the Guide Dogs for the Blind program — but before I leave, a quick reminder, if you will –

If you see someone with a Seeing Eye Dog in a restaurant, hospital, shopping mall — do not be surprised or alarmed. The law in all 50 states allows these dogs to accompany their owners. Do not grab the dog, the owner or the dog’s harness. The dog is working. You can ask the owner for permission to pet the dog if you like. The biggest problem for dog owners is interference from the public. Please be aware of this problem and act accordingly.

More tomorrow –

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When our children were very young, and Whitey still had vision, he required them to wake up and shout “Enthusiasm”. Our little five year old daughter would sleepily answer, “Fusiasm, Daddy, Fusiasm”.

Now we are grandparents, and this week, our grandson gave us the giggles as he told us he always shouts “Enthusiasm” when he wakes up. And of course he very loudly demonstrated exactly how he does it!

Yes, he had had some coaching from Poppy along the way, but we had no idea he was actually doing it. And I know his dad, our son, laughed and laughed the first time he did that! It is a joyful thing to see little traditions like that one passed on to the next generation.

The thing that fascinates me is that Whitey’s enthusiasm for life never faded with his vision. When I ask him about it, he refers back to good coaches and childhood athletic programs. All I know is that he has maintained that positive attitude and I am so thankful! Can you imagine living with a blind partner who complains all the time? Whew!

One of Whitey’s favorite writings is

Attitude

by Chuck Swindoll.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.

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